Munich – Lake Garda (Solo over Dolomites in 6 days, 700km, 10.000alt)

I did my first real bikepacking trip this summer and I knew I wanted to do something special. I'm in a pretty good shape, so I planned something between 100-150km/day, and 1000-2500 altitude per day. My original route was either the Munich – Venice or Munich – Kranj, as I have family in Munich and am from Slovenia. Then I realized it would be a shame to pass through Dolomites and not make it the centerpiece of the trip.

I was recovering from a leg injury, so I decided to go a week later than planned. That turned our to be a great decision, as there was a big heat wave in the first week of July in Europe. I didn't yet know though, that weather would turn around quite dramatically. I wanted to take my camera with me, but I expected more rain so I decided against it.

Day 1: Munich – Achensee: 130km, 680alt
Beautiful easy ride towards Achensee. The weather was super nice during the day, I was full of energy and raced people on road bikes. The gravel paths I took was amazing – they were basically the cyclepaths that lead to Venice. In the afternoon, weather started to turn and I arrived to my destination in mild rain, but fortunatelly was allowed to set camp still dry and call it a day. Camp was pretty empty, which I felt was strange for a Monday in the middle of July.

Day 2: Achensee – Aica: 142km, 1600alt
The forecast for the day was rain, rain and more rain. But for some reason, not a single drop of it, and I had some amazing time rolling though Austria. Innsbruck was great, but I knew I had to push on considering the weather conditions and the dreaded Brenner coming up. Luckily for me, the traffic was still low and I didn't feel unsafe at all crossing it, it was a great climb actually and was able to enjoy the views while suffering. Then the descent – majestic. Camp in Aica was definitelly not a highlight, it's a great spot, but next to busy highway and it was pretty noisy at night. If you have earplugs, then not a problem. But earplugs didn't help with a massive storm and super strong winds that came overnight – don't want to experience something like that again, I genuinely felt like I was gonna be blown away.

Day 3: Aica – Cortina d'Ampezzo: 100km, 1400alt
Rolling towards Cortina, roads were amazing. I spent most of the time on gravel, and time went by fast in the first half. The altitude was still easy to handle and it was dry and relatively warm – if you can say 14 degrees is warm for July. But looking forward, I should enjoy it even more. After Toblach I knew I'm in Dolomites (first time there), and the views got from 70 to 100 real fast. I rolled into Cortina just as sun was starting to set and it was a glorious sight, but I wanted to set camp quickly, eat something and prepare for a big day. Initially, I wanted to stay in Cortina for a day, but I didn't feel a great vibe of the city for whatever reason, and decided to go on the next day.

Day 4: Cortina d'Ampezzo – Ciampedel: 82km, 2750alt
This night was brutal. The two camps are located at a river below the city, and at night it was freezing cold. I never anticipated the cold, but fortunatelly had just enough clothes to get over it safely in my 7degree sleeping bag. The passes were so cold I was shaking on the descents too. Most surprising, the traffic was extremely low, I really had a blast riding. I counted 5 cyclists on the first long climb out of Cortina, which is mindblowingly low. Two came past me, I overtook two, and raced another one that had a similar pace, to a point where I came to the top completely spent (i like to race sometimes haha), the weight of my bags felt like 30kgs although it was only 15kg + bike. This was one of the three highlights of the trip, the gravel pass between Falzarego and Corvara. Just stunning. The road around Sellaronda was just as beautiful, but in it's own way. Still almost no traffic, almost no cyclists. The camp in Ciampedel was stunning. But also next to water, which I knew was bad news.

Day 5: Ciampedel – Bellamonte: 72km, 2200alt
I slept maybe 4 hours, it was again freezing cold. But I knew this would be another epic day. I departed early towards Moena, where I turned left. The first climb was quite boring, but the end of it I was amazed by beautiful views once again. Then after the descent, I turned towards Paneveggio and once more towards Parco Naturale Paneveggio Pale di San Martino. If you ever have the privilege to visit it (easpecially with a gravel / mtb), you have to do it. I had to do a de-tour of my initial route, but I'm super glad I did it, even though I'll admit, it was pretty rocky on some sections for my 40mm tyres and the descent was steep. But totally recommend. The ascent just paid for all of that. It was sunny the whole day and a bit more warm, so I really had a blast.

Day 6: Bellamonte – Garda: 155km, 1000alt
I was quite sad departing the mountains, as I knew my trip is ending soon. The route wasn't anything special, which added to the same weird feeling I had in my soul. I even got lost for a bit and had to cycle back to the original path. Then completely unexpectedly, came the best descent of my life. It had a lot to do with me feeling weird before, and then at the bottom of the climb being so grateful for all that I've experienced. The descent took me down 800meter of elevation, through old train path, vineyards and into the valley, where, for the first time in 6 days, I felt summer heat that hit me like a truck. Then all that was left was rolling towards Lake Garda. The whole week, I had no issues finding camp, so I stopped thinking about it. Coming into Riva, I quickly realized I'm in trouble as everything was completely full, no one wanted to accept me even if I slept outside of tent. But as usual, I'm grateful that happened. I called a camp that is located a bit higher up, which was free, but closing soon. If you've ever been to Garda, you know that steep road, and I was racing with time. On top of that climb, I saw a restaurant I visited after setting up camp. This was one of the highlight too. For some reason, there weren't many people there so it was super chill, sun just started to set, and the views were, after such a demanding week, to die for. A beautiful end to an extraordinary week.

The only difficulty I have now, if finding a route for this year. As anyone here probably, I would much appreciate any recommendations. And I'm always looking for people to do this kinds of trips together, if you're interested. I'm very intrigued of being on Alpe d'Huez when TdF passes. Anyway, hope you found this useful and maybe do the same trip next year, I can only recommend it.